The science community is undecided about the roots of depression, which will affect one on four of us. While we wait for science, we do already know that talking therapies are highly effective - everyone of us could do something about ourself and others today....

HappineWhen you look closely at the research — which we did after the dancing incident — it’s actually not clear that encouraging happiness at work is always a good idea. Sure, there is evidence to suggest that happy employees are less likely to leave, more likely to satisfy customers, are safer, and more likely to engage in citizenship behavior. However, we also discovered alternate findings, which indicates that some of the taken-for-granted wisdoms about what happiness can achieve in the workplace are mere myths.

David Hain's insight:

Happiness issued, but not when it's forced! Focus on culture, not gimmicks!

We know that stressing is bad and it’s all over the news. But recent research takes stress to a new level. It turns out that our attitudes about stress make it a killer. Researchers at University Wisconsin Madison, a sample of 30k people reported feeling high stress AND held negative view of stress (reported that stress impacted their health a lot), participants had a 43% increased risk of premature death. It turns out — stressing about stress — make stress USA’s 12th biggest killer, greater than AIDS or Homicide.

David Hain's insight:

'Stress is a message: the problem is bigger than my resources' - attitude to it is critical ~ Patty Freedman

A study published in 2011 showed that individuals with social phobias are hypersensitive to other people’s states of mind. It means that they can easily perceive and accurately distinguish feelings of those around them, which basically makes them empaths, or people capable of feeling and sharing the emotions of others.

To come to these conclusions, the study authors assessed the levels of empathy in 21 highly socially anxious and 22 low socially anxious individuals, using the Liebowitz social anxiety scale. It was found that the first group of participants exhibited elevated empathy tendencies and were more accurate in recognizing mental states in other people.

The results imply that individuals with social phobia “demonstrate a unique social-cognitive abilities profile with elevated cognitive empathy tendencies and high accuracy in affective mental state attributions.” Of course, larger scale research is needed to confirm this hypothesis, but the results are rather convincing.

What does it mean for people suffering from social phobias? It means that they actually are very special, gifted people rather than mental patients and freaks. They possess a rare gift of empathy, which makes them able to feel the emotional experiences of people around them. But this flood of emotions and energy is so devastating that the brain causes those disturbing symptoms in the body in order to avoid and protect itself from this “emotional pollution”.

David Hain's insight:

Social anxiety sufferers have 'gifts' - they don't need to be fixed but to find a home, study says.

George Osborne’s July budget was a ruthless attack on the country’s young. The abolition of housing benefit for under-21s, a new “living wage” that won’t apply to under-25s, and the replacement of university maintenance grants with maintenance loans all showed that Osborne felt he could target young people without any significant consequences.And he was right. Young working-class people will suffer most from these policies – and the Conservative party is by no means reliant on this demographic for support. The sheer venom of his budget, however, led commentator Polly Toynbee to ask: “What have young people done to Osborne to deserve such contempt?”

In fact, the answer to this question doesn’t lie in what they’ve done, but in what they haven’t — and that is vote.

David Hain's insight:

What about next September’s intake of university students? Although none of them had a say in this year’s election, they will be forced to rely on loans, as opposed to grants, because of this summer’s budget.

Every year, millions of college students in the U.S. pack up and head off campus, leaving tons (literally) of stuff behind.And only a small fraction of it really belongs in a dumpster.So Alex and a group of his friends at the University of New Hampshire started a campus organization called Trash2Treasure.

David Hain's insight:

It started with a futon in a dumpster. Now it's a a nationwide resource that's changing the way students think about campus waste.

Throughout history, the great creators and innovators were those who were not afraid to stand out from the crowd and risk being different. The truth is, everyone is different. This should be celebrated, not hidden. Allowing yourself to be weird is good because it means you have stopped judging yourself. And when you stop judging yourself you will stop judging others. And when you stop judging others they will stop judging you. But first you can’t be afraid to be different. You can’t be afraid to be weird.

It’s okay to be weird. Here’s why.

There is no such thing as normal.

David Hain's insight:

Today we've had life advice and how to be sexy. Now a post in praise of weirdness. Weirs as defined here is good!

On the lifelong quest to become our best selves, we must stretch and grow and learn from our mistakes. Being a flexible and willing learner, we more easily stay competent as the world changes. Here are 10 things that we must NEVER do if we are to accomplish the elusive goal of becoming our best selves:

On July 14, 2015, the International Delegation comprised of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, China, and the European Union, reached a comprehensive agreement with Iran on the future of its nuclear program. Almost immediately after the deal was announced voices from all sides began to pronounce the defects and benefits of this fledgling agreement. All the pros and cons have likely been expressed and so this article isn't about the agreement, rather it's about the position of the United States as a leader in the 21st Century.

David Hain's insight:

Can the USA really be a transformational leader in the 21C world - or will internal squabbling screw up the opportunity?

Would you say that changing a baby’s genetic characteristics to make the baby more intelligent is making appropriate use of medical advances OR is it taking medical advances too far?

The result: 83 percent of Americans said it’s not appropriate, and only 15 percent said it was appropriate. Now I’m most certainly not an expert on such questions, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Still, this seems too interesting a topic not to speculate about, so let me offer my guess: If such genetic modification proves to be possible (and safe for the baby), that lopsided poll result won’t matter at all.

David Hain's insight:

The advances in human genetics will pose some enormous moral questions in 21C!

Getting up in front of a crowd consistently ranks as a top-five fear among Americans, and 92 percent of us have at least one fear about going on a job interview.

But you can come across as being completely sure of yourself, even if you can't completely shake the jitters. We asked top improv and stand-up comedians how they keep their cool when taking the mic in front of a tough crowd. Try their tricks, and you'll be chill and confident no matter how big or intimidating your audience may seem.

If the precise workings of the depressed brain remain obscure, is it better to ask what depression feels like? Samuel Johnson wrote of the “black dog” of melancholia (a phrase later adopted by Winston Churchill) in the 18th century, and blackness seems to crop up frequently in descriptions of the illness. It is a “black stone in your heart”, a heavy “black cloak”. The association is with darkness, an inability to see beyond the miasma of repeated, terrible thoughts. Heaviness is a common theme too. The term “leaden paralysis” is still used by doctors to refer to the sensation of being weighed down, the sluggishness of a slow-to-respond body.

If limbs feel as though they are in chains, the mind does too. Rumination – a tendency to get stuck the same negative pattern of thinking – is a common symptom. The pattern is often self-reinforcing, as another neuroscientist, Marc Lewis, explains. “Any set of thoughts that is repeated builds synaptic pathways. Thoughts that are repeated over and over build structure into the brain and therefore increase their own likelihood.”

David Hain's insight:

1 in 4 of us will experience this in some way, and 100% will see it in others. Worthwhile learning about depression...

Lots of wisdom to be found in comedyComedians are a joy in our lives. They make us laugh at the world around us, and ourselves, and help us to take things less seriously. When we want to share a good time with our friends, when we want to take our mind off something, when we want to decompress- comedians are there to lighten the load. And we all have our favourites as well. Personally, one of the reasons I am so fond of comedians is because of their intelligence. Besides making us giggle, they come up with some pretty deep thoughts. Here are 20 surprisingly brilliant quotes from some of the world’s funniest people.

Artificial Intelligence is going to take over. Robots are now “staffing” a hotel in Japan. Even Stephen Hawking thinks A.I. could mean we are over. Done. Finished.

Now that we all know our jobs will be taken over by robots wielding A.I. capabilities, what are we going to do with our lives? Are we even going to have careers?

The fear of robots taking jobs actually appears in the very first instance of robots. That’s because the word was invented by Czech writer Karel Capek in his 1920 play R.U.R., full title Rossum’s Universal Robots. The story is about robots taking over the world. Not much has changed, huh?

This could be Industrial Revolution redux, argues Wired, but then again, robots will do the jobs we don’t want to do or can’t do well or at all, and a few decades from now they’ll do jobs we didn’t know we needed, or don’t need now. At least, at first.

David Hain's insight:

Have you thought about what the rise of the robots means for your future? Maybe you should...

don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures,” said sociologist Benjamin Barber. “I divide the world into learners and non-learners.”

As each of us takes on more responsibility, we seem to misplace the necessity of learning. We learn through our actions and from feedback, but how often do we sit down to distill our failures or mistakes into actionable lessons? How often do we connect seemingly unrelated ideas or insights to challenge our comfort zones?

How else do we get better at what we do?

David Hain's insight:

Learning together- we can't do it all ourselves, so hone this skill set!

Jessica Jackley has had her hands full since stepping away from Kiva, the peer-to-peer microlender she co-founded in 2005. Between investing in startups through the Collaborative Fund; launching ProFounder, a crowdfunding site for entrepreneurs and small businesses; and consulting with companies to improve their social impact, the popular TED talker has also managed to give birth to three children. And she has a new book, Clay Water Brick: Finding Inspiration From Entrepreneurs Who Do the Most with the Least.

I met with this very busy entrepreneur at this year’s Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network Summit in Berlin, where she gave a keynote. Our interview ranged from the future of microfinance to the one-for-one social enterprise business model popularized by Toms’ Blake Mycoskie. Here's an edited excerpt:

People often think we are starting right away to talk about sexual intercourse [with kindergartners]. Sexuality is so much more than that. It’s also about self image, developing your own identity, gender roles, and it’s about learning to express yourself, your wishes and your boundaries.” – Ineke van der Vlugt, an expert on youth sexual development for Rutgers WPF, the Dutch sexuality research institute and the organization behind Netherlands sex education curriculum.

Did you know that the Netherlands has one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the world? Did you know that the majority of teens in the Netherlands say their first sexual experiences were “wanted” and “fun?” It could be because by law, all primary school students in the Netherlands must receive some form of “sexuality education.” It’s not called “sex” education, because the idea is bigger thank that, according to der Vlugt. The idea here is to have open and honest conversations about relationships and love.

A 2008 United Nations report found that comprehensive sex ed allows young people to “explore their attitudes and values, and to practice the decision-making and other life skills they will need to be able to make informed choices about their sexual lives.”

David Hain's insight:

A great example of how to teach core principles - but it requires a mature life view to become the norm...

Education is a fundamental right, and it is also the most powerful tool we have for sustainable development. Investing in a quality education for every child, youth and adult is essential - not only to achieve the education related goals and targets, but to realize the other sustainable development goals and targets.

David Hain's insight:

The world we are creating will be dependent on how well we educate our young people, in the end it is our only legacy!

I was at a bar with a friend a while ago and we were talking about who we found attractive in the room.

This is not something that I normally find myself doing, at all. It was a random night. And I found it near impossible to decide who I was attracted to just based on physical appearance alone.

I said this to my friend: I can’t really tell who I’m attracted to based on looks alone. I kind of just want to know that the person is nice.

“Nice,” though, is not enough. It’s a bland word: mandatory for any acquaintanceship, but not nearly enough to encompass the traits required for a full-on relationship. Most people that I know or would choose to spend time with are nice enough.

But full-fledged attraction is about so much more. I’ve been trying to get a handle on what that is, for me.

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s some combination of these things (in no particular order):

David Hain's insight:

Sexy = likeable => potential for influence. One view on how to be sexy!

Even though I did not appreciate the discipline imposed upon me by my 4 months at the FBI Academy, it did teach me to master and maintain good habits. I realize now that what I did on a daily basis for those 4 months taught me how to direct my time and energy into habits that would lead to my success as an FBI agent.

The definition of habit is an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary. Success needs more than inspiration—it requires good habits that lead to concrete action steps.

You may possess many skills and traits, but if you let toxic habits undermine your efforts, breaking the bad habit could be the game-changer for success you need.

Business leaders from more than 75 businesses and organisations each spent a day with two promising young leaders as part of AUT’s Shadow a Leader Day on 1 July.

Each leader opened up their working life to include a school student and a law or business student for the day, showing them the reality of working as a leader, and sharing insights about what makes an effective leader. They ran a unique day for their ‘shadows’ designed to expose them to the life of a leader. For many students this meant joining in with media engagements, executive and board meetings, client discussions, brainstorms, networking functions and presentations. The day also gave students a chance to see how their leaders balance significant leadership roles with other parts of their lives, including family commitments.

David Hain's insight:

Great leadership mentoring idea from New Zealand. Could easily be exported!

This is an excerpt of a June keynote address by Dov Seidman, CEO of ethics and compliance management firm LRN, in the United Nations General Assembly Hall celebrating the 15-year anniversary of the U.N. Global Compact.

I share the belief that ethics lie at the heart of all sustainable human endeavor. Your leadership is an inspiration to me and countless others.

We live in a fast-paced, always-on world facing the blaring assault of never-ending information. Everything is faster — communication, commerce, innovation. I stand before you today with a counter-intuitive message: The faster things get, the more we need to pause. Why?

Quite simply, when you hit the pause button on a machine, it stops. When a human being hits their pause button, they start. They start to reflect, to reconnect with their deepest beliefs. We pause to make sense, to rethink fundamentals such as the nature of capitalism and the relationship of business to society and to the natural world. And we reimagine an even more sustainable path.

It has never been more urgent to pause in this deep way. The world is not just rapidly changing, it is being dramatically reshaped, faster than we have — yet — been able to reshape ourselves.

A student’s ability to feel safe and confident are prerequisites to a student’s ability to learn. The lesson might be creative, engaging and fun — but if a child is being bullied at school, it might not even register. A 2011 study commissioned by the National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 28% of American students in grade 6–12 experienced bullying, making them more likely to experience mental health problems and a plummeting GPA. Bullying, however, doesn’t just hurt the bullied. Bullied children, bullies themselves and bystanders are all more likely to skip school and wind up with emotional or substance abuse problems that could follow them into adulthood.

To help ensure a healthy learning environment for all students, teachers need to combat bullying in their classrooms and promote empathy — the ability to see the world from someone else’s perspective. Here are some approaches recommended by The BULLY Project, a campaign inspired by the award-winning film BULLY:

David Hain's insight:

@BulliesOut good source of ideas on empathy and creating safe environments!

You comfort them over a skinned knee in the playground, and coax them to sleep with a soothing lullaby. But being a nurturing mother is not just about emotional care – it pays dividends by determining the size of your child’s brain, scientists say.

Shocking: According to neurologists the sizeable difference between these two brains has one primary cause – the way were treated by their mothers

Both of these images are brain scans of a two three-year-old children, but the brain on the left is considerably larger, has fewer spots and less dark areas, compared to the one on the right.

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